JiPPO! Street is a curious mixture of a few different genres. Having you swiping and rotating different dice in a bid to build towers out of them is an original idea, and it works. It’s not quite the kind of game you’ll play for hours on end, but it’s a fun distraction and certainly worth your time, at least for a little while.
With some distinctly retro graphics that are deliberately reminiscent of the Sega Master System, JiPPO! Street isn’t going to win prizes for its looks. It holds a certain charm though, providing exactly what you need if nothing more. This also means you’re not going to be distracted by graphics while pursuing your key aim.
That aim is to drop matching dice on top of other dice in order to create tower blocks. This is all conducted at a steady pace. By doing so, you unlock buildings which help you level up, thereby increasing your score multiplier. It’s simple yet effective stuff. The only tricky part is knowing which way to rotate the dice.
In each case, you’re given insight into which way to swipe based upon the faces that are visible. Through some quick deduction, it should be fairly easy to know what to do, but it’s not always. Sometime you might turn a little too instinctively and swipe the wrong way. Another time you might be disrupted by the timing. You see, you’re only given a brief amount of time to do this in. The dice goes back and forth over the stationery one, gradually getting closer to clashing and causing a game over. You have to swipe at just the right time so that the dice lands on top of the tower. Do it just right and you earn a ‘perfect’ bonus in the form of a bullseye.
It’s a simple mechanic but one that encourages you to do things perfectly. Achievements further add to that, enticing you into trying a little harder.
There’s a basic form of currency too. Earning coins allows you to unlock new dice patterns. You can buy new buildings through leveling up gradually within the game, giving you some new things to gaze at. It’s all purely an aesthetic kind of thing but it works in an almost Crossy Road style manner.
Occasionally, you’ll find the game incorrectly recognizing your swipes which can be an irritant, but it’s not a significant problem. Instead, longevity is JiPPO! Street’s main issue. At first, it might be fun to unlock new dice patterns — but it can be a bit longwinded. Crucially, there’s no huge evolution. You can use the occasional power-up block or an anvil to skip ahead past a tower, but these are relatively few and far between. The focus is mostly on matching regular dice rather than anything too fancy, and this can lead to it feeling a little overly simple but cute.
Still, JiPPO! Street is certainly fun for a time. Different from other titles out there, it’s a likable mix of dice, Tetris, and swiping skills. While it might not quite reside in your memory for a long time to come, it’s the kind of experience that works well on mobile gaming. It’s fun, if a little disposable. Kind of like a fast food meal. And sometimes that’s just what you want, rather than steak, right?
